‘Australia has more links to China’s tycoons than any other country except the United States, according to the compiler of the Hurun list.’

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Growing breed of Chinese moguls Down UnderBased in China, they have big investments in Australia and some have political clout as well
By Jonathan Pearlman, In Sydney
Source – Straits Times, published April 28, 2013

Xu Rongmao. —PHOTO: by APPLE DAILY

When a rare chance arose to buy a World Heritage-listed resort island in the Great Barrier Reef last year, Australian-Chinese media mogul William Han decided to invest in paradise.

“Aussie Bill”, as he is known, outbid 200 others for the 584ha Lindeman Island off the coast of Queensland from Club Med, shelling out A$12 million (S$15.3 million) for it. He now plans to spend another A$500 million at least to turn it into a high-end resort for Asian holidaymakers.

Mr Han is one of a growing breed of Chinese-Australian moguls, several of whom are on China’s top 1,000 rich list compiled by the Hurun Report magazine.

Shanghai-based property mogul Xu Rongmao was ranked No. 12 last year with an estimated worth of US$4.7 billion (S$5.8 billion). An Australian citizen, he has invested in properties in Sydney and Darwin and educated both his children in Australia.

It is the first strike in living memory for many Gen X and after Singaporeans… the first in close to three decades. The full force of law was really only going to be the one outcome, whether this was a strike by migrant workers, or by locals despite its long running history as Chinese-majority satellite for cross-pollination. Objectively, industrial action is virtually unheard of in the island state, and it was really until I lived overseas in recent years that i understood and experienced what it meant.

Nevertheless, this evokes questions on the narrative of a cohesive Greater China.

Activists demonstrate against the bid to punish striking drivers at the Singaporean consulate in Hong Kong on December 5, 2012.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Four Chinese nationals are sentenced in Singapore to several weeks in prison
They were protesting low wages and poor living conditions
They did not follow Singapore’s law requiring a 14-day notice before a strike

Singapore (CNN) — In a case that brought to light issues of unfair pay and poor living conditions among foreign workers in Singapore, a court sentenced four Chinese nationals to several weeks in prison for instigating an “illegal” strike in late November.

The four, who had pleaded guilty, were led from court in handcuffs to begin their terms in Changi prison immediately.

In announcing their sentence, Judge See Kee Oon said it was necessary so as “not to embolden others.”

Greater China sphere: In China to affirm bilateral ties, Singapore’s prime minister left Beijing Friday September 7th after a six-day official visit. During his stay, he met with China’s top leaders Hu Jintao, Wen Jiabao, Vice Premier Li Keqiang and top legislator Wu Bangguo. On top of Beijing he also visited Sichuan Province to the southwest and Tianjin Municipality up north. Of course, the symbolic gesture has been the arrival of pandas from China as token making Singapore the seventh recipient of panda diplomacy.

Facing west, however – A report by the two million-readership New Yorker (September 7, 2012) featured the headline Singaporean Tells China U.S. Is Not in Decline. It focused on the Singapore prime minister’s speech (first was in 2005) at the Central Party School under the theme “China and the World – Prospering and Progressing Together“.

BEIJING — In an unusual public airing of strategic problems surrounding China’s rise, the prime minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong, warned China on Thursday that it should view the United States not as a declining power, but as a nation with the ability to innovate and bounce back.

Is Singapore in a position to ‘warn‘ China? Many years ago, what Lee Kuan Yew had to say, Deng Xiaoping was stirred to listen.

But at best, it represented a scalable model where authoritarian capitalism (with some room for deliberation) could work in, albeit in a very finite space of just 600+km2. For twenty years since official ties were made the Chinese have been sending its mayors to Singapore for training That is probably one of the few valued contributions Singapore can provide in the mind of the Chinese. Further down the road, does the relationship between the younger Lee and China simply carry the same resonance? Perhaps what is lacking is the interpersonal relationship with key figures that his father had.

Indeed, the little red dot requires a myriad of interlocking regional strategic engagements to keep it safe – it has to stay ‘as neutral as possible’ despite its obvious Chinese-majority population and ruling class while providing the US naval support since the 60s.

Here is a link to the full speech here (in Chinese with the English translation)-

I think the NY Times does stir with fourth estate dyslexia by couching the speech as a warning.

A scan of the speech will reveal the overarching theme is interdependence and some pointers Lee Hsien-Loong sees as necessary bilateral Sino-US ingredients for a stable environment for Singapore to continue to thrive. With a minute domestic market dependent on imports for natural resources, Singapore’s ingredient for survival is to avoid and help manage conflict at all cost. So – Warning, it is not.

It hardly makes sense for Singapore to stand up to, for there is little strategic leverage in, ‘warning’ China. It understands China’s position as it shares cultural traits and arguably a lasting one-party model (China’s from 1949, Singapore’s from 1965). However, by tapping on memories of its long history of western education since 1819, the Singaporean perspective can offer useful pointers on keeping an East-West equilibrium for the region.

Thoughtful Americans, both Democrat and Republican, also understand that any attempt to contain China is doomed to fail. US-China relations in the 21st century cannot be compared to ties between the US and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Trade between the US and Soviet Union was negligible, and nuclear deterrence was the primary stabilising factor. Today, China and the US are profoundly intertwined, and their relationship is stabilised by mutual economic dependence. The US cannot hold China back without hurting itself at the same time. Neither would European or Asian countries join such a misguided effort to contain China. My Foreign Minister stated this view clearly in a widely reported speech in Washington earlier this year, a view which many American officials accepted. Ultimately, both China and the US must develop a new modus vivendi that reflects current realities and benefits both sides. Lee Hsien-Loong, at the Central Party School

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China ‘faces challenges within itself’This is an excerpt from a transcript of a dialogue Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had with senior Chinese party officials at the Central Party School in Beijing on Thursday.
Source – Straits Times, published September 8, 2012

China and Singapore started the Tianjin Eco-City project in 2007. PM Lee said Singapore would like its cooperation with China ”to develop into new areas which are relevant to both sides as our societies change”. — ST PHOTO: LIM WUI LIANG

Bilateral ties between China and Singapore are good, but both countries have differing views on some important regional and global issues. How do you think we can communicate and work better on these issues? How do you see the relationship between Singapore and China going forward?

PM Lee: China is a big country growing rapidly. Singapore is a small country also seeking to prosper in Asia. We wish Asia to be stable, and the region to be open and prosperous together.

Nobody wants to see a conflict in the South China Sea, but our position cannot be the same as China’s position simply because China is a claimant-state. Singapore is not a claimant-state. Therefore Singapore cannot take sides or judge the merits of the different claims to the South China Sea. Read the rest of this entry »

Pandas are the gentler face of Chinese soft power. There was previously debate amongst the Chinese if the panda should replace the dragon as representative of Chinese identity. However, rise of the panda never resonated as well as rise of the dragon. In any case…

Panda diplomacy meant to celebrate two decades of diplomatic ties between Singapore and China back in 2010 is finally going to be realised end 2012. Singapore is to be the seventh country to receive a panda on loan from China.

Capitaland, a Singapore developer that has huge inroads into the Chinese property market will be sponsor over a ten year period for facilitaties such as a climate-controlled enclosure, 8,000m2 of bamboo and breeding programmes.

SINGAPORE: A pair of giant pandas from China will arrive in Singapore by the end of the year. The pandas, Kai Kai and Jia Jia, will be on loan to Singapore for 10 years, to foster good ties between the two countries.

This was confirmed after the 9th meeting of the Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation in Suzhou, co-chaired by Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean and China Vice Premier Wang Qi Shan.

DPM Teo and Mr Wang also witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding with respect to the scope of banking services under the China-Singapore FTA. Read the rest of this entry »

Singapore was one of the key inspirations for China’s Shenzhen SEZs in the 80s and the on-running Suzhou (1994) and Tianjin projects (2007) are continuing symbolic acts of co-operation between China and Chinese-majority Singapore.

SINGAPORE : Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan will lead a delegation of Ministers and senior officials to Singapore on a three-day visit starting Tuesday, at the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean.

A joint media statement issued by Singapore’s ministries of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Industry and National Development said the Suzhou and Tianjin Eco-City meetings will review the progress of the respective projects and chart new directions for future development. Read the rest of this entry »

2011 and the birthday ‘dragon’ celebrates with a double edged sword of pomp and humility: the winner of the 20th century Chinese civil war re-asserts its position and vision celebrating its 90th birthday.

Humility and legitimacy rhetoric – In a keynote address (Hu: CPC must serve the people – China Daily, July 1, 2011) at a ceremony in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, three key points were made as Hu Jintao reminded Chinese leaders that alienation from the people (like how all previous dynasties fell since time immemorial, losing the mandate of ‘heaven’ (one can say the mandate of consent today) means the people always feel empowered to fight back).

Acknowledging the party is confronted with growing pains in the rapidly interconnected and glocalised landscape – he warned that incompetence lead to a divorce from the people and that corruption had to be seriously addressed and that democracy with Chinese characteristics was essential for the way forward.

1. Biggest political asset – Maintaining close ties with the people

2. Democracy vital – Without it there can be no socialism and socialist modernization

President Hu Jintao (C), Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Wu Bangguo (R), and Premier Wen Jiabao are photographed with outstanding Party members and workers at the celebration of the 90th anniversary of the Communist Party of China at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, July 1, 2011. Photo by Xu Jingxing / China Daily

BEIJING: Chinese President Hu Jintao on Friday warned on the 90th birthday of the ruling Communist Party that it still faced “growing pains” and that rampant corruption could lead to a loss in public confidence.

Hu made the comments in a keynote address at a ceremony in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to party leaders and members gathered to celebrate the anniversary of the CCP’s founding in 1921.

“The whole party is confronted with growing pains,” Hu said, telling the thousands-strong audience that “incompetence” on the part of some members and their “being divorced from the people” had created problems. Read the rest of this entry »

A section of “The Remaining Mountain”, a part of “Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains”, is on display at the National Palace Museum in Taipei. AP Photo – Wally Santana

TAIPEI : One of China’s best-known ancient paintings, torn into two parts in the 17th century, was shown in its entirety in Taiwan Wednesday for the first time in more than 360 years.

China and Taiwan have one part each, and the fact that the two could be joined together for the first time in generations symbolised a broader trend of closer ties across the Taiwan Strait, officials said.

“It’s very much like destiny,” said Zhao Hongzhu, the head of the Communist party in east China’s Zhejiang province, the home of the mainland bit of the ancient piece of art, known as “Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains”.

“The exhibition is a critical step forward for cultural exchanges between the two sides,” said Zhao, who had accompanied his half of the painting across the Strait. Read the rest of this entry »

To reform or oppress? That seems to be the two prevailing attitudes in China. The 3,000 strong National People’s Congress is set to gather in a week-long meeting as the government seeks to outline its priorities for the year. Topping the list of concerns? High inflation and perceptions that the income divide is getting wider.

“It’s called ‘red-eye disease’. It’s jealousy – they hate how much money others are making.” China analyst Willy Lam of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

BEIJING: China’s parliament opens its annual session this week in the most tense climate in years, after unrest in the Middle East highlighted a tinder box of social issues that have jangled nerves in Beijing.

The National People’s Congress, which is made up of about 3,000 delegates, has limited power and its week-long meeting serves more as a rally exalting the ruling Communist Party than a forum for real parliamentary debate.

But it is used by the government to outline its priorities for each year via an address by Premier Wen Jiabao at the start of the session on Saturday. Wen gave a preview last weekend — and offered a clear sign of official unease. Read the rest of this entry »

SHANGHAI: Shanghai plans to be Asia’s top stock market by 2013 and launch 24-hour trading by the end of the decade as it works towards setting up an international board, state media said Monday.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange aims to be “one of the most influential” bourses in the world by 2020, the Shanghai Securities News said, citing a long-term development plan for the stock market.

Over the next three years, Shanghai will “vigorously promote the construction of the international board”, which will allow foreign companies and overseas-registered Chinese firms to list shares. Read the rest of this entry »

Workers assemble electronic components in the Chinese city of Shenzhen. Photo: CNA

BEIJING – Manufacturing activity in China hit a six-month high in October, an independent survey showed Monday, in a sign that a recovery of the world’s second-biggest economy has further consolidated.

The HSBC China Manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) rose to 54.8 in October from 52.9 in September as production and new orders continued to rise.

An official survey from the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) showed that PMI rose to 54.7 last month from 53.8 in September. Read the rest of this entry »